by Marc Smith
“Well its lights out and away we go” and what can I say the most awaited game I have been waiting for this year is Codemasters F1 2020 and I can’t believe my eyes I thought the last game F1 2019 in the series was unbeatable but man was I wrong!
You start the game and the first thing you see is the red lights and you know it’s that time to start your engines and put that pedal to the metal, now let me jump straight to the main new part to the game MY TEAM.
Now not only are you a race driver you are also team owner, this brings in new aspects to the game as it is not just down to you on the racetrack.
This is the best move Codemasters could have made as sometimes you wonder is there really any point buying the next game for slightly different cars with upgraded graphics but yes this is!
It comes at the perfect time also as the new F1 season has just begun, first off you personalise your driver then have to choose a sponsor, each has different goals weekly income and signing bonus so choose wisely to which sponsor suits you.
Then it’s time to choose your engine supplier. You have a choice of all 4 but you can really only choose Renault or Honda, then on to your driver you get to choose from a handful of F2 drivers and their statistics are not the best but you have the chance in the future to invest in your driver or can eventually buy an F1 drivers contract but this takes time to earn enough money to do so.
You can choose season length in MY TEAM from 10,16 or 22 races not just the distance of the race, now you are ready to go racing well that’s not before your press interview and you have to choose your answers carefully as this will affect which research and development departments are upgraded first and can affect your competition,
Now as you progress through the season you can choose activities for your team to do while not racing, from the development of the car or driver to merchandise and advertisements and it’s all down to personal preference, whether you need a faster more reliable car to wanting more finances or to be able to buy a better teammate, there is no right or wrong here, to be honest, and you can always autofill activities same with the R&D so you are all good either way.
This isn’t the only game mode we still have driver only career mode they have tweaked it from the last years game as you can start with 3 scenario races, half a season full season of F2 or skip straight into the main driver’s seat. In this mode, it’s more just about the racing of your car you still have to do your research and development but it is simplified so it is more just straight to the action.
You can also play online they have a tournament each week with players from all over the world competing for first place with the most points, also there is ranked and unranked races, which is qualifying for your start position and the actual race, with ranked you are penalised for dangerous driving ie forcing people off of the track which goes against your driving grade and you get matched with people of the same skill set and experience but if you just want to have a laugh unranked is the place to be.
Now it’s time for the visual, sound and gameplay from the cars racing around the circuit with the sounds are all on point from the little differences of each teams car on aesthetics to the way each teams car has different top speeds to the way the car handles. I was watching the practice live in Austria while playing the online tournament in Austria,
I could not believe my eyes as I couldn’t tell the difference even the sound of the engine was the same when gearing down for the same corners to the realism of the track the feel of the bumps through the force feedback the vibration of the wheels when you lean on the kerb.
Codemasters has now added a new feature and that’s to remove the pole that’s directly in your view from the halo in cockpit mode with it being on a screen your eyes don’t cut it out like it would in the real world and this was hindering your view and was annoying but you now have the option to remove it and now this is my preferred view to the TV pod as it’s easier to judge overtaking and when you can put the power down without spinning and losing control.
Having gone over all these points there really are no bad points to Codemasters F1 2020 normally you have to wait halfway through the season for the game, not this time, this is of course due to the COVID-19 pandemic delaying the start to the season but it couldn’t have been released at a better time.
Honestly, I could be here all day with what I love about the game as you can probably tell with the way I have spoken about Codemasters F1 2020 already that I’m an absolute F1 enthusiast and it’s all down to the small details they have put in and not just the small ones, one massive change the new career mode MY TEAM it brings a whole new different aspect to the game and I absolutely love it.
My final thought is no matter whether you are a casual driver, boy racer or an absolute F1 fanatic you are going to be blown away by what Codemasters have done here, Like I said I didn’t think they could top F1 2019 but they have done and blown it away there are many days and months of fun to be had not just hours, you will be that determined to be the best team in the paddock you will lose hours of time been drawn to be the best giving it all for an extra millisecond. It is well worth every penny of anyone’s hard-earned money. If I could I’d give this an 11 out of 10 but with that been impossible I’ll have to give it a modest 10 out of 10
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